at the arrow pits of Flint Ridge. The canal came through this area in 1828 and the part of the rock that contained the remains of the hand, was blasted away to make room for the towpath. The region is now known as the "Black Hand Gorge". The Ohio and Erie Canal (1825) On July 4, 1825 Governors Clinton of New York and Morrow of Ohio threw the first shovels-full of dirt at the Licking Summit near Newark, Ohio on the Ohio and Erie Canal project. Due to lack of transportation, Ohio farmers were essentially unable to sell their goods at any price, and Ohio was mired in a cash-poor depression. The canal would connect farmers to Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The specifications for the canal required a width of at the top and at the bottom. The depth was to never be less than . From the Licking Summit the canal proceeded east along the north side of the Licking River, crossed Rocky Fork Creek on an aqueduct. An inlet lock then connected the canal to the Licking River, which due to the sandstone formations, was the only way to get through the Blackhand Gorge. A dam was built on the Licking River at Toboso to provide a constant pool in the gorge. An outlet lock near the dam allowed the canal boats to exit the Licking River and continue on their way. In some places the sides of the gorge had to be blasted away and a stone pathway constructed to act as a towpath. Ohio's canal era peaked in the 1850s and then began a decline into the early 20th century. The Great Flood of 1913 damaged the infrastructure to the point where the canal was no longer navigable. The Central Ohio Railroad (1850) The first rails were laid in Blackhand Gorge in 1850 by the Central Ohio Railroad. The tracks hugged the river's edge from Claylick to Toboso. It took one year to carve through a solid mass of sandstone high and long producing "The Deep Cut". Trains began running in 1851, and in 1865 the Central Ohio Railroad became part of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. In 1958 the construction of Dillon Dam and its resulting reservoir on the Licking River required that the tracks through the gorge be abandoned for a new route. The Ohio Electric Interurban (1890) In October, 1890 an